Police break up birthday party which included 'beer on tap' and a marquee in Northamptonshire village attended by 'dozens of people'

Police officers broke up a 50th birthday party with dozens of attendees in a Northamptonshire village on Saturday afternoon (May 2).

Around 40-50 people were reported to be at the party in Eastcote, between Northampton and Towcester, which had a marquee, banners, balloons and beer on tap, according to an eye-witness. Other eye-wtinesses have since disputed this figure and claim it was between 10 and 12 people.

Northamptonshire Police was called at 2.55pm to disperse the gathering on Gayton Road and a spokesman criticised those who thought it was okay to ignore the coronavirus lockdown.

"The vast majority of people in Northamptonshire have shown great resolve in following the rules so it’s very disappointing when we come across a small minority who think these rules don’t apply to them," they said.

“The rules apply to everyone and when there are some people having to shield for months due to being high-risk, it is quite selfish for others to just ignore the restrictions and think holding a party is acceptable.

“People should be following the rules, not for fear of being fined if they break them, but because they want to take part in the national effort to beat Covid-19 and protect our NHS.”